Solid surfaces play a significant role in the ability to separate a component from a mixture of components, to localize one or more moieties to a specific area, to investigate characteristics of various molecules, molecular aggregations, cells or tissue, or in other situations where having a moiety in a defined region, optionally in relation to a particular medium, is of interest. Thus, solid substrates find application in diagnostics, for haptens, antigens and nucleic acids, affinity chromatography, apheresis, cytophoresis as well as other applications. There are many characteristics of interest with the solid substrate, such as degree of non-specific binding, clarity, ease of fabrication, availability, etc. The characteristics are of varying importance, depending upon the particular application. For purposes of the subject invention essential characteristics include the ease with which functionalities may be introduced, the convenience of such functionalties for linking other groups, the interaction between such functionalities and the moieties attached to such functionalities, the density of functionalization available for linkage, reproducibility of the functionalization and the methods employed for linkage. There is also an interest in being able to easily view the contents of a container, such as a bottle or flask.
In many situations, it is highly desirable to have a high density of a particular moiety on the surface. By having a high density a greater number of interactions can be achieved in a predetermined surface area. This allows for smaller volumes to be used, shorter contact times, greater intensity of signal, as well as other advantages.
There is, therefore, a continuing interest in being able to develop new methods and compositions which allow for improvements of solid substrates. Such improvements can have affects on the sensitivity and efficiency of diagnostic assays, the efficiency of separation of components in a complex mixture, the ability to pack particular moieties into a small surface area, as well as other improvements.